“Justice had nothing to do with it”

Swiss authorities announced July 12 that 76-year-old filmmaker Roman Polanski would not be extradited to the US. Polanski was arrested September 26, 2009 on his arrival in Zurich to attend a film festival. He remained under house arrest at his chalet in Gstaad until the Swiss justice ministry rendered its recent decision.

The Swiss decision not to extradite Roman Polanski is a blow to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office and the US Justice Department, whose vindictive, politically-motivated campaign against the filmmaker has now come apart.

Court denies filmmaker’s appeal

On Thursday a California appeals court denied an appeal by filmmaker Roman Polanski to be sentenced in absentia for having sex with an underage girl in 1977. This opens the door to Polanski’s possible extradition to the US to face sentencing in person.

An appeal filed by attorneys for Roman Polanski reveals new details regarding judicial misconduct in his 1977 case. It is now known that the presiding judge admitted to misconduct, and that the district attorney's office refused to have him removed.

The Ghost Writer centers on a British writer who makes his living writing about other people’s lives in their name. He is hired by a major US publishing firm to work up the memoirs of a former British prime minister.

A California appeals court has denied Roman Polanski’s request that his case be dismissed. The written decision of the court leaves several legal options open to the director, and urges an investigation into judicial misconduct in his previous court proceedings.

Held in Swiss jail for two months

The Swiss justice ministry announced Thursday that it would not appeal a court ruling handed down the day before permitting filmmaker Roman Polanski’s release on bail, opening the way for the director to be freed within the next several days.

Filmmaker Roman Polanski remains in a Zurich jail cell, while his lawyers fight the efforts by US authorities to extradite him. The director has a half-century-long artistic career that needs to be assessed.

Filmmaker Roman Polanski remains in a Zurich jail cell, while his lawyers fight the efforts by US authorities to extradite him. The director has a half-century-long artistic career that needs to be assessed.

Filmmaker Roman Polanski remains in a Zurich jail cell, while his lawyers fight the efforts by US authorities to extradite him. The director has a half-century-long artistic career that needs to be assessed.

The US government promises that it will not hand over to Italy convicted CIA agents, guilty of abetting torture, should that country request their extradition. It has adopted a different attitude toward filmmaker Roman Polanski.

The effort to vilify film director Roman Polanski and have him extradited to the United States has become the rallying point for a broader campaign against “Hollywood liberals,” intellectuals, artists, and non-conformists of all sorts.

The arrest of film director Roman Polanski in Switzerland and his threatened extradition to the US have stirred the baying hounds of ‘law and order’ into action. To these reactionary voices, we can now add the editorial board of the New York Times.